Death God and the Order of the Phoenix
by Kuro Okami-san
Summary: After using the Final Getsuga Tenshou, Ichigo is transported to the Harry Potter universe, but he still has all his shinigami powers! And what's this? Dumbledore knows Yamamoto? Read to find out what'll happen! Please R&R. Rated T for violence, because this is Bleach we're talking about here.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the first Fan Fiction I've ever written, let alone a crossover, but hey, reading tons of these made me want to give it a shot, especially after a vicious plot bunny decided to gnaw off my foot until I started writing. Please have an enjoyable time reading it and if you don't, I suppose that's fine too. Can't please everyone…

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry potter or Bleach! If you thought I did, we need to find you a mental hospital A.S.A.P.!

* * *

Prologue

He had accepted it, the fact that he was going to lose his powers. Urahara knew this. Knew that Ichigo had fully understood the consequences of what he had done and had accepted them. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have had the willpower to do it. He wouldn't have been able to use Mugetsu. Aizen would have won.

Still, as Urahara watched Ichigo greet his nakama, his mind was racing to find a way around the loss of the boy's powers that was soon to happen. He knew it was impossible, but still… Urahara was snapped out of his thoughts by a sudden scream of pain and several shouts of "Kurosaki!" and "Ichigo!". Ichigo had collapsed to the ground and was screaming in pain as his friends rushed to his side. So there it was. The start of the consequences.

Urahara walked calmly over to the group gathered around the fallen boy. Ichigo had passed out and as such had stopped screaming. The boy's nakama didn't look up as he approached. Instead, they gazed intently at their friend with looks of pure shock on their faces. When he reached them, Rukia was the one to ask the question that was probably on all their minds.

"Urahara-san," she said quietly, "what's happening to him?"

"I'll explain later. Right now we need to get him back to his body and –" he was cut off by several gasps and he looked down to see what had warranted this sudden reaction. Ichigo was slowly going transparent, fading away into nothing. This wasn't one of the aftereffects of using Mugetsu, was it? He was only supposed to loose his powers, not disappear completely, right?

"Souten Kisshun, I reject!" The glowing orange healing shield immediately materialized around Ichigo's steadily disappearing form. It was no use. There was nothing for Orihime to heal. The shield could not reverse the process that had been started with the use of Mugetsu. All they could do was stare in horror as Kurosaki Ichigo slowly faded out of existence.

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A/N: So what did you think? Really short, I know, but it's just the prologue! That's why I'm uploading the first chapter as well, so please don't post a review of any sort until after you've read the first chapter. That is, if you even want to post a review…I'm not gonna guilt you into it or anything, but it would be nice…Hmmm…that sounded like something someone would say if they're trying to guilt trip someone… Oh well! I hope you enjoyed, and if you didn't, well that's too bad, but this is mainly for my own enjoyment anyways!

~Kuro


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So this is chapter one. If you clicked the next chapter button after reading the prologue, I am sincerely grateful! I really hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review after reading this, because it would be much appreciated! Also, if you're wondering, this takes place after the winter war and during the 5th Harry Potter book. However, in Bleach, everything after the Decide Arc didn't happen, so no fullbringers or thousand year blood war (although, I do keep up to date on Bleach so things such as *WARNING SPOILER* Ichigo's mother being a Quincy *END OF SPOILER* are still true, Ichigo just hasn't found out yet, and he might never in this story.) Also, I apologize for any Ooc-ness from the characters. This _is_ my first Fan Fiction, and I'm trying my best to keep the characters as _in _character as possible. I'm sorry if I've failed utterly.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Bleach or Harry Potter. Some lines in this chapter are directly from the fifth Harry Potter book and belong solely to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

Chapter 1

Everything was completely dark. Unnaturally so. The night had suddenly gone so completely pitch black that it was impossible to see an inch in front of you. The temperature had dropped to barely above freezing.

"W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!" Dudley's voice rang out.

"I'm not doing anything! Shut up and don't move!" Dudley didn't listen to Harry's warning.

"I c-can't see! I've g-gone blind! I—"

"I said shut up!"

It didn't make any sense, but that was the only possible explanation. There was a dementor in Little Whinging and it would be on top of Harry and Dudley any second.

Suddenly, Dudley decided to make a break for it, punching Harry in the side of the head. He fell to the ground, dropping his wand.

"Dudley, dome back! You're running right at it!" Harry yelled as he searched frantically for the lost wand. Abruptly, Dudley's footsteps stopped and Harry realized that the dementor had caught him. There was another chill behind Harry which meant that there was more than one of them.

Warning Dudley to keep his mouth shut, Harry continued to search for his wand. Finally, out of desperation, he yelled, "_Lumos!_"

Amazingly, the wand tip actually lit up. Harry grabbed it quickly and turned around, only to find a dementor coming straight for him. He tried to conjure his patronus, but all he got was some silver vapor. He tried again. It didn't work. He could hear high-pitched laughter now, and a voice mocking him inside his head. At that moment, he thought of Ron and Hermione…

"_Expecto Patronum!_" The silver stag burst from his wand and charged the dementor, sending it fleeing back into the night.

"This way!" Harry shouted, spinning around… only to stop dead in his tracks at what he saw. Dudley lay on the ground, almost unconscious, yet the dementor was no longer attacking him. Instead, the dementor was shish kabob-ed to the alley wall by a long, black sword. The person holding the sword was tall, probably around 6 feet, muscular and lean. He was dressed in strange, black robes that looked like something had tried to rip them to shreds, considering half of the top part of the robes was completely gone. He had shaggy, almost shoulder-length, orange hair that was just as vivid, if not more so, as any of the Weasley's hair. The messiness of the hair rivaled the messiness of Harry's own. There was a long, black chain wrapped around the man's right arm that connected to the hilt of the sword, the rest trailing behind the man from where it wrapped around his shoulder. He also wore a black glove on his right hand.

As Harry watched, the man twisted his sword and the dementor let out a pitiful moan as it slowly dissipated into nothing. Immediately, the unnatural chill and darkness left and Harry's patronus faded away as well, no longer needed.

"Wh-who-who are you?" Harry stuttered. Had this guy really just _killed_ a dementor? Shouldn't that be impossible?

The strange man turned to look at Harry, and was about to reply when the black sword in his hand began to glow. The blade slowly became silver and shortened slightly, the hand guard a gold rectangle, the wrappings on the hilt became red, and instead of a chain, two blue tassels hung off the end. A sheath appeared at his waist, held by the strip of white cloth there that seemed to be serving as a belt.

The man jumped, startled by the sudden change in the appearance of his sword.

"Oi! Zangetsu! Did you do that?!" he shouted. Harry had no idea who he was talking to. "Wait a minute… Am I speaking English?"

"Uh, yeah. You're in England. We speak English here…"

The man, who Harry now realized couldn't be older than seventeen, ignored Harry, instead cocking his head to the side like he was listening to someone else speak. He then nodded, like he had just gotten the explanation he was looking for and sheathed his sword.

Just then, there were loud, hurried footsteps and both boys turned to face whoever had just walked into the alley. It was a little, batty old lady. Realizing that it was Mrs. Figg, Harry quickly put his wand away.

"Get it back out!" she shrieked the second she saw this. "There might be more! I'm doing to kill Mundungus Fletcher!"

"What?" Both Harry and the orange-haired boy asked.

Mrs. Figg promptly went into a rant about this Mundungus person and illegal cauldrons.

"Wait! You're a witch?" Harry interrupted.

"No, no, no. I'm a squib. Mundungus knows full well I'm no use in these situations. Speaking of which, get you're wand back out, boy!"

Harry shook his head. "No need. If there are more, he," Harry pointed to the orange-haired boy, "can just kill them."

Mrs. Figg's eyes widened as she noticed the other occupant of the alleyway for the first time. "Kill them?" she squeaked. Harry nodded. The other boy just stood there looking confused as to what he should be doing. Mrs. Figg shook her head, seeming to get over her initial shock. "There's no time for that now. Get your cousin, boy. We need to hurry. And you," she turned the strange boy, "stay with us. Dumbledore will want to have a talk with you."

Harry helped the nearly unconscious Dudley to his feet and they went on their way, the orange-haired boy following behind. It was then that Harry realized what Mrs. Figg had just said.

"You know Dumbledore?" Harry asked, incredulous.

"Of course I know Dumbledore, who doesn't know Dumbledore?" she said, not glancing back and continuing with her quick pace.

"Ano… who's Dumbledore?" the other boy asked, completely confused as to what they were talking about. This earned him a surprised stare from Harry, but all Mrs. Figg did was keep walking.

"You'll meet him soon enough," she stated. "Like I said, he'll want to talk to you."

They walked in silence until they finally reached number four Privet Drive.

"Now get inside, all of you, and stay there." Mrs. Figg promptly turned around and disappeared into the darkness. Harry lugged Dudley up the walk, the other boy still following him, and rang the bell. He then braced himself for the shouting that was sure to come.

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A/N: That's all for chapter one. Next chapter we'll get back to Ichigo's point of view. Most of the story will be from his point of view, but occasionally a chapter (such as this one) will work better from Harry's and we'll get to see what's going on inside his head instead. Again, I hope you enjoyed and reviews would be highly appreciated! Please tell me what you think I can do to improve my writing!

~Kuro


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Oh. My. Gosh! I can't believe it! People actually read my story and liked it! You guys have no idea how happy that makes me. When I looked at my inbox, I nearly had a heart attack! Thank you soooooo much! I love you guys! I will do my very best to live up to expectations. Hopefully, I don't completely fail.

Elspeth: Don't worry, you'll find out soon. Very soon actually. Thanks for the input!

Haosbattler, Rei Rusuragi and The Uknown ShiniGami: Thanks for the reviews and the support! It's super motivating!

And thank you to everyone else who, favorited and/or added this story to their story alerts!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter!

And a note for this chapter:

_This is Ichigo thinking_

_**This is Zangetsu speaking**_

_This is Shiro speaking_

* * *

Chapter 2

Ichigo was extremely confused. Right after he had collapsed in pain, his only coherent thought had been, _This is it, I'm losing my powers._ After that, he had quickly, and thankfully, lost consciousness. When he finally woke up, he had found himself in a dark alley where a hollow, or something along the lines of a hollow, was attacking a very fat boy. Without thinking, Ichigo had quickly killed it. Which was when he realized something very important.

He still had his powers. _What the heck? Wasn't using the Final Getsuga Tenshou supposed to make me lose them?_

He wasn't complaining about it or anything, but still...

There was a voice from his left, speaking in what sounded like English, but Ichigo didn't understand a word of it. He turned to where the voice had come from and found himself looking at a boy of about fifteen with messy black hair, startling green eyes, round glasses and a lightning bolt shaped scar.

Ichigo opened his mouth to say something (probably something along the lines of _I have no idea what your saying_) when Zangetsu had started to glow. He had been so startled that he had spoken out loud to Zangetsu instead of in his mind. It was then that he discovered two things.

One: Zangetsu could seal himself and had decided to do so now, owing to the fact that they had no idea where they were.

And two: Zangetsu knew how to speak English and was now instantaneously translating for Ichigo so that he could effectively communicate with those around him. At least on of them had been paying attention during English class at school.

Then some old lady had shown up yelling nonsense (illegal cauldrons, seriously?) and had them go to what apparently was the other boy's home.

For the next hour or so, Ichigo was extremely glad that people with low reiatsu couldn't see him. As soon as they were inside the house, there was a huge amount of shouting going on. Ichigo simply sat quietly on the couch and watched the drama.  
What really got him was when owls suddenly started swooping in and giving the black haired boy letters. Since when did owls deliver the mail? And why _owls _of all things? He dismissed it quickly though. According to Zangetsu, they were in some sort of parallel universe, so Ichigo figured anything was possible (1).

"It's what they call it when they suck the soul out of your mouth." That caught Ichigo's attention. _Suck out the soul, huh? So those things are like hollows._

_**It would appear that way.**_

_I still think there's somethin' off abou' them._

_I do too. Zangetsu?_

_**I agree.**_

"His soul? They didn't take – he's still got his–" That was the super-skinny, annoying, lady talking. Ichigo rolled his eyes at her question, (duh, the boy still had his soul. He _was_ still _alive, _wasn't he?) and tuned out the rest of the conversation.

_I guess we'll just follow this kid around until we get to talk to this Dumbledore person. It sounds like he might have some answers._

_**That's a good idea, Ichigo.**_

_Heh. You actually said somethin' intelligent fer once, King. I'm proud of ya'._

_ You're one to talk, Shiro._

Their conversation was cut short by the appearance of yet another owl. This one, instead of delivering its letter to the black haired boy, flew straight to the annoying woman and dropped it on her.

There was a short debate over whether to open the letter or not. Short because, instead of waiting to be opened, the letter burst into flames and said,

"REMEBER MY LAST, PETUNIA."

What. The. Crap?! Now letters could talk too?!

_That just ain't natural._

_** For once, I agree with you.**_

"You heard your aunt, now get to bed!"

Ichigo got up from the couch and followed the black haired boy upstairs. No sense in staying with the people who couldn't see him.

HE waited quietly as the boy scribbled something on three separate sheets of parchment. After he had done this, he spun around to face Ichigo.

"Right then, who are you?"

"You know," Ichigo said, "one normally introduces themselves first."

The boy looked slightly taken aback, as if he had assumed Ichigo already knew his name.

"Oh, um, I'm Harry Potter."  
"Kurosaki Ichigo. Nice to meet you," Ichigo held out his hand. Harry took it hesitantly. Harry's eyes instantly focused on Ichigo's sleeve.

"How'd you do that?" Harry questioned.

"How'd I do what?"

"Your robe. It was all torn up..."

Ichigo looked down at his shihakusho. It had fixed itself and returned to being a normal shinigami uniform when Zangetsu had sealed himself.

"It does that..." Ichigo was saved from having to explain by the fat man (apparently Harry's uncle from what Ichigo could gather) suddenly entering the room.

"We're taking Dudley to the hospital. You are not to leave your room while we're gone." (2)

Harry nodded and the man left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"How come they can't see you? What sort of charm are you using?"

"Uh..." _What is he talking about? Help me out here, guys!_

_Dunno, King. Sounds like the kid believes in magic or somethin'._

"It must be some sort of anti-muggle charm, since Ii can still see you, but how'd you–" Harry was cut off by a crash downstairs (3).

"Either that was the fastest trip to the hospital ever, or someone else is in the house," Ichigo said as he drew Zangetsu. Quietly, he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, Harry following close behind with his (what did that crazy, old lady call it?) wand at the ready. Down the stairs they could make out the shapes of about nine people who all seemed to have noticed Ichigo's and Harry's presence on the landing.

"Lower your sword, boy, before you take someone's eye out. You too, Potter, lower your wand," said a gruff voice.

"Professor Moody?" asked Harry.

"I don't know about 'professor'. Never got around to much teaching, did I? Now get down here, the both of you."

Ichigo saw Harry lower his wand a bit, but he kept his zanpakuto where it was. Neither of them moved.

"It's all right, Harry," said another voice. "We've come to pick the two of you up."

"Professor Lupin? Is that you?" Okay, so Harry knew these people. At least that was something.

"Why are we all standing in the dark? _Lumos,_" said a woman's voice. Instantly, the hall lit up, revealing the large group of people.

_Maybe Harry does believe in magic, Shiro._

Shiro didn't reply, but Ichigo could hear Zangetsu laughing. Shiro's face must have been priceless. Ichigo chuckled a little to himself and turned his attention back to the group.

They were, without doubt, one of the strangest groups of people Ichigo had ever seen. There was a tired looking man with patched clothing, a man with a chunk out of his nose and mismatched eyes (one of which was electric blue and kept staring at Ichigo accusingly), a woman with short, spikey violet hair, a black man with a single gold earring, and several others.

The group had an argument over whether Harry was really Harry or a Death Eater impersonating him. The second Shiro hear the words 'Death Eater', he burst out laughing so hard Ichigo got a headache and couldn't pay attention to the rest of the conversation. Annoyed as he was with Shiro, he had to admit that the idea of eating death was pretty funny.

After some short introductions, Harry went back to his room with the purple haired woman (Ichigo was pretty sure her name was Tonks) to pack his things. Ichigo sheathed Zangetsu and joined the rest of the group downstairs. The second he stepped off the last stair, all eyes were on him.

"What's your name, boy?" asked the man with the strange eyes, Moody.

Ichigo shifted uncomfortably. That blue eye unnerved him. "Kurosaki Ichigo."

"What are you?"

Ichigo flinched at the question. How could Moody tell that he wasn't completely human? "Ano...What?"

"Don't play dumb, boy," Moody said bluntly. "I know perfectly well that you aren't human. So what are you?"

"Mad-eye, maybe we should have this conversation later," Lupin said, jerking his head in the direction of the stairs. Harry and Tonks were coming back from Harry's room with a trunk floating behind them. Tonks's hair was now a bubblegum pink that would've made Yachiru proud.

"Right. Come over here so I can put a Disillusionment charm on you," Moody said to Harry. He then whacked Harry on the back of his head with his wand. Ichigo watched, baffled, as Harry pretty much became transparent. Moody turned to him. "Now you, boy."

Ichigo took a small step away from him. "No, I'm good. Normal people cant' see me anyways," he said nervously.

Moody looked at him one last time with that creepy blue eye, then shrugged, "Suit yourself." The group made their way outside, where everyone except Ichigo mounted a broom and looked at the sky as if waiting for a signal.

Lupin looked at Ichigo, and held up another broomstick. Where it had come from, Ichigo didn't know. "Here, you can ride this. Ever ridden a broom before?"

Ichigo shook his head, eying the broom warily, "No, but trust me, I won't need one."

Lupin gave him a curious look, but the broom disappeared just as mysteriously as it had appeared.

"Clear night," Moody observed. "Could've done with more cloud cover. Right then, we'll be flying in formation. Tonks'll be flying in front of the two of you, I'll be behind, and Lupin below, the rest'll be circling us. Don't break ranks, even if one of us is killed." Ichigo saw Harry gulp.

All of a sudden, a burst of green sparks lit up the sky like a firework.

"That's the signal, let's go!" said Lupin and all the brooms rose quickly into the air. Ichigo used flash-step to catch up with them and used _hoho_ to stay next to Harry. Harry gave him a startled look when he suddenly appeared, running, next him. Ichigo caught Moody staring at him, his mouth hanging open.

"How...?" questioned Harry. Ichigo just shrugged and then ignored him. He didn't feel like explaining just then.

* * *

When they finally landed again, Ichigo was freezing. Moody had made so many course changes during the trip that it had taken them much longer to reach their destination and staying that high up for that long made you _cold_. He could even hear Shiro's and Zangetsu's teeth chattering and briefly wondered if it was snowing in his inner world or something.

The second they were on the ground, Moody shoved a piece of parchment at both Harry and Ichigo and told them to memorize what it said. It took Zangetsu a little longer to translate written words, but eventually he told Ichigo what the scrap of parchment said.

_**The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.**_

Ichigo looked up at the houses. There was number eleven, and number thirteen... but where was number twelve?

_It did say number twelve, right?_

_**Yes, it did. Look at the houses again. I think you'll find that number twelve is no longer missing.**_

Zangetsu was right. Some time during their conversation, number twelve had appeared. After Ichigo had gotten over his shock, he hurriedly followed the rest of the group, who were now going inside.

They were met in the entryway by a beaming woman with bright read hair. After Moody lifted the charm on Harry, he beckoned to Ichigo and started down the hallway with the rest of Harry's guard following behind him. Ichigo watched as Harry was led away in the other direction and then followed Moody.

Ichigo closed the door quietly and turned around to find all the inhabitants of the room staring at him. They were all seated around a long wooden table, and appeared to have been discussing something before he had entered the room.

"You're Mr. Kurosaki, I take it?" an old man with twinkling blue eyes and a long silver beard asked politely. The man seemed to be the one in charge, although, Ichigo couldn't fathom why they would have chosen him. He looked completely crazy. He was wearing a long purple dress, or robe of some sort, with silver stars embroidered all over it. He also had a matching pointed hat, and wore half moon spectacles that sat at the end of his crooked nose. Ichigo also found it a little creepy that the man already knew his name, but then figured that Moody must have already told him. Ichigo nodded in answer to the man's question.

"I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Alastor, here tells me that you are not human, which I already suspected. No mere human could have killed a dementor. Would you mind telling us exactly what you are?"

"Yeah, I'm..." Ichigo hesitated. _What should I tell them?_

_**For simplicity's sake, tell them that you are a shinigami.**_

_Hey! I'm still here, ya' know!_

_** We do not need to explain Vizards to them right now. **_When Shiro didn't respond, Ichigo figured he was pouting and turned his attention back to Dumbledore.

"I'm a shinigami," Ichigo told them. Dumbledore smiled.

"I thought so."

"What's a shinigami?" Tonks asked.

"Shinigami is the Japanese word for death god," Dumbledore explained to the rest of the room. "In our culture, we refer to shinigami as the Grim Reaper." Looks of fear and disbelief flashed across almost every face in the room.

The redheaded woman, who had just rejoined the meeting, spoke up. "He's just a boy, Albus, probably no older than Ron. He can't possibly be the Grim Reaper. Legends of that go back for centuries."

"Molly, I was no suggesting that he was _the_ Grim Reaper. Although, shinigami do not age like us. Mr. Kurosaki could be several centuries older than he looks. I am correct in assuming that you are no longer among the living, Mr. Kurosaki?"

Ichigo thought about that. Technically, he was dead, since Urahara had cut his chain of fate, and his body wasn't around, but they way Dumbledore had worded his question begged for a sarcastic remark. He _was_ 'among the living' right now, after all.

"Well, I don't know about not being among the living... You all are still alive, right? But I am dead, if that's what you wanted to know," Ichigo answered. This statement elicited several gasp and more fearful looks. "Oh and, she's right about my age. I'm only sixteen. May I ask a question now?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"How do you know so much about shinigami?"

"Oh, I'm good friends with one. Perhaps you know him. His name is Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryusai."

Ichigo felt his jaw drop. "Y-you know Captain-Commander Yamamoto?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled more, if that was possible.

"Yes, I do. He should be here quite soon, actually..."

Just then, the doorbell rang. There was a racket as a woman started screaming bloody murder (after the first couple words, Ichigo asked Zangetsu not to translate the screaming anymore). Lupin and another man with long black hair got up and went to quiet her down, while the redheaded woman, Molly, went to answer the door. The screams quieted down just in time for Ichigo to hear a familiar voice say, "Hello, is Kurosaki Ichigo here?"

* * *

(1): Ichigo isn't entirely correct here. He is not exactly in a parallel universe, so no, there is not another him running around in Japan. There are some similarities, however, such as hollows and dementors eat souls.

(2): I'm speeding things up here, because I can't have Ichigo hanging out in Harry's bedroom for a couple days. That would just be creepy. Yes, I am well aware that Harry never sent those letters that he so angrily wrote. This happened, because I felt that sending the letters was kind of redundant, especially when the Order shows up so soon afterward. So he wrote them, but never sent them. I think Hedwig is a smart enough owl to figure out where he's gone after she gets back from hunting, so don't worry about her.

(3): Heh heh heh... Harry sounds like Hermione right here! What can I say? He's known her for years. She's bound to wear off on him a little...

A/N: Alright so that's the end of chapter 2! Who do you think is at the door? It's definitely not Yamamoto. That would be too much of a coincidence, don't ya' think? Plus, ringing the doorbell is absolutely not Yamamoto's style. No, someone else is at the door. How 'bout you leave me a review telling me who you think it is? This isn't a vote or anything. I already know who it is, but I want to see if anyone can guess. Also, don't get used to daily updates. Chapter 3 still needs a lot of editing done, and my little sister stole my copy of the fifth Harry Potter book, so until she finishes reading and gives it back, I can't keep writing the rough drafts of the chapters. :( She's getting close to the end though, and she reads like a maniac, so hopefully she'll finish soon. Again, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited and/or followed this story. The only reason I even had the motivation to edit and update this today is because of you guys. So thanks! I'll get chapter three done as soon as I can, but like I said, it needs a lot of editing, so I wouldn't expect it for the next couple days. Well, that's all I have to say, so, I'll see you guys later! Please don't forget to review!

~Kuro


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hmmm...this chapter is a bit longer than the last couple. Unfortunately, this chapter has basically no action in it. It's pretty much just them talking. In fact, it _is_ just them talking. I know these kinds of chapters can be pretty boring, but this one is necessary for the story to continue, otherwise, the rest of the story would make no sense. I'm also not going to reply to reviews this time around. Mostly because I wouldn't be able to contain myself from telling you who was at the door last chapter if I did reply to the reviews (partly because I'm lazy and despise long author's notes). Luckily, you'll find out at the beginning of this chapter so I won't have to contain myself much longer. Even though I'm not replying, I am extremely grateful for the reviews! Also, thank you again to everyone who favorited or followed this story! It makes me super happy!

Disclaimer: I'm getting a little tired of saying this. I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter and I never will. This story is just the product of my twisted imagination when I started wondering what the two worlds would look like fused together.

_This is Ichigo thinking_

_**This is Zangetsu speaking**_

_This is Shiro speaking_

"(This is speaking in Japanese.)"

* * *

Chapter 3

The second Ichigo heard the voice, he was out of the room and running down the dreary hall towards the front door. The owner of that voice was supposed to be dead. Aizen had killed him. And even if he had somehow survived, how had he gotten into this alternate world? Why was he looking for Ichigo? And most importantly, if he had managed to follow Ichigo into this world, did that mean there was a way back?

Ichigo slowed to a stop and placed a hand on Zangetsu's hilt, as the person standing in the doorway came into view. Somehow, impossibly, it really was him. He was again wearing the standard shinigami uniform, instead of the white hakama, with a captain's haori over it. The hilt of his wakizashi was just visible from where it was tucked in his robes. Ichigo gaped as he stared at the ever-smiling face of Ichimaru Gin.

Gin pushed past a very surprised Molly, into the house, closing the door behind him.

"(H-how-how...?)" Ichigo couldn't form a complete sentence, still gaping at the silver haired man.

"(How is it I'm not dead?)" Gin supplied. "(I have your friend, Inoue Orihime to thank for that. Rangiku got her ta heal me, but it was a close thing. Nearly died anyways.)"

"(Since when are you a captain, again?)" Ichigo asked, wondering why the heck Gin was back to wearing his old uniform. Had the Gotei 13 just up and forgiven him for betraying them after Aizen had been defeated?

"(Since when wasn't I a captain?)"

"(What do you mean by that?! You know very well –)"

"Ah, you must be Ichimaru Gin," Dumbledore said from behind Ichigo. Ichigo looked back at him startled. He hadn't realized that anyone had followed him from the room, but it looked like practically everyone that had been sitting at that table had. He glared at the old man. Could he not tell that he had just interrupted their conversation? "Genryusai said that you might show up. As I was telling Mr. Kurosaki here, I'm expecting his arrival any moment now." He then turned to the rest of the people who had followed them. "The meeting is over. You may go home. I bid you all safe travels and a good night." With that, Dumbledore swept down the hall, into a side room, motioning for Ichigo and Gin to follow.

The room was completely empty, and the floorboards seemed to have at least an inch of dust covering them. There were cobwebs in the corners and the wallpaper was old and peeling. The gas lamps hardly lit the room at all, making it very dim and hard to see. Once they were in the room, Dumbledore locked the door and flicked his wand a bit. After this was done, he turned and smiled at them.

"(There. No one should be able to listen in on our conversation now, not that they'd understand what we're saying anyways. It's nice to meet you Ichimaru-san. My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.)"

"(Ah, Captain-Commander told me there was a possibility of meetin' you. It's nice to meet you too, Dumbledore-san.)" Gin said, inclining his head slightly.

"(Does anyone care to explain what's going on?)" Ichigo spoke up. He was tired of being left in the dark. Both Gin and Dumbledore seemed to know what was going on. Ichigo wanted answers and they had them. He just needed to get them to tell him, and he was going to, one way or another.

"(Soon, Kurosaki-san. We are just waiting for Genryusai to arrive and then we will explain everything,)" Dumbledore answered.

Ichigo's scowl deepened, but he stayed silent. _That old man better hurry and get here!_

_**I agree. It is high time someone answered our questions.**_

Shiro, for once, was silent. Ichigo had a feeling that he was still sulking about the 'not explaining Vizards' thing.

They waited several more minutes, Ichigo's mood growing fouler with every passing second. After what seemed like an eternity, the glowing traditional shoji doors that were the senkaimon finally appeared in the room. As they slowly opened, two black, swallowtail butterflies flew through the opening. Someone was accompanying the old man. Ichigo momentarily wondered who it could be, but quickly dismissed the question, figuring he'd find out soon enough.

Moments later, the Hell Butterflies were followed by the stooped figure of an old man. He was wearing the typical uniform of a shinigami, with a white haori draped across his back. He had a long white beard, that Ichigo decided was probably longer than Dumbledore's, long eyebrows, and two scars forming an 'x' over his right eye on his bald head. The man carried a heavy, wooden staff that Ichigo knew was actually his zanpakuto, Ryujin Jakka. Out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo glimpsed Gin (seriously, why was he a captain again?) bowing as Yamamoto entered the room.

Following closely behind Yamamoto, was not another shinigami, but a cat with sleek black fur and glowing yellow eyes. Ichigo's eyes nearly popped out of his head. _What in Hueco Mundo was _she _d__oing here?!_ The appearance of the cat made Ichigo fail to notice that, unlike last time he had seen him, the Captain-commander had both arms, again courtesy of one Inoue Orihime.

Ichigo vaguely heard Yamamoto, Dumbledore, and Gin greet each other, but he continued to stare dumbfounded at the cat. It came up to him and rubbed against his leg, purring, before launching itself all the way from the floor onto his shoulder.

"(Are you so happy to see me that you can no longer speak, Ichigo?)" a slightly masculine voice purred into his ear.

"(No way, Yoruichi! What are you even doing here?)" Ichigo shouted, trying to pry the cat from his shoulder. She dug her claws painfully into his skin, keeping her firmly in place.

Ichigo's outburst had interrupted the quiet conversation the others were having and all three looked at him amused. Gin snickered. Ichigo glared at them and gave up trying to dislodge Yoruichi from her perch.

"(Are you going to explain what's going on now?)" Ichigo snarled at Dumbledore, impolitely, causing Yoruichi to swat the side of his head reprimandingly with her paw.

Dumbledore's eyes continued to twinkle. "(Ah yes. I did say that we would explain everything once Genryusai arrived. Have a seat and we'll begin.)" Dumbledore flicked his wand again and four cushy armchairs appeared in the empty room. Ichigo eyed them suspiciously, but took a seat anyways, figuring it was the only way he was going to get any answers. The others sat down as well and Yamamoto started to explain.

"(Right now, we are in a world that is parallel to your own. This world is very similar to your own, the names of places being exactly the same. However, there are a few noticeable differences, the biggest of which is that here people with high reiatsu levels are called witches and wizards. These people can channel their reiatsu through wands as something that they call magic. Also, there are no shinigami here except for those of us sitting in this room.)" Yamamoto paused here, looking at Ichigo and waiting for the outburst that was sure to come.

Ichigo gaped at him. Magic he could handle. He'd already had plenty of evidence that that was real. But no shinigami? How was that even possible? He asked the first question that came to mind, "(How is this place not over run by hollows?)"

Yamamoto gave him a strange look and continued, "(There aren't any hollows here. From what we've gathered, there seems to be a system of sorts for the spirits here. As soon as someone dies, they have to decide whether or not they want to continue on to Soul Society or stay in this world as a ghost forever. Although, it seems that this choice is only offered to those with high reiatsu. People with low reiatsu, or as they are called here, muggles, are sent straight to Soul Society when they die.)"

"(But what about those things in the alleyway? Those felt like hollows to me, and Harry said that they eat souls!)"

This time Dumbledore answered, "(Those were dementors. They are like hollows in the respect that they both eat souls and are spiritual beings. However, we believe that they only eat a portion of the soul, leaving the victim in a vegetative state, and we are certain that dementors were never human souls.)"

That explained why they had felt slightly off from hollows. Ichigo chose his next question carefully, "(So...if there are no shinigami in this world, how are we all here?)" Ichigo gestured to himself and the other shinigami in the room.

"(We do not know exactly how you ended up here,)" Yamamoto informed him, "(only that it had to do with your use of the Final Getsuga Tenshou.)"

"(I already knew that.)"

"(Shihoin Yoruichi and I traveled here through a special senkaimon that only I, as the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, can open. Captain Ichimaru –)"

"(Why is even a captain right now?)"

"(–came through a gate that Aizen discovered during his time as the fifth squad captain and hid in a secret laboratory he had built under the division's barracks. Captain Ichimaru came here under my orders to find you after we both had the same suspicion that you were here instead of dead as was common belief. He has been searching for you for a little under a year.)"

"(What?!)" Ichigo screamed, causing Yoruichi to glare at him indignantly. She did not leave her spot on his shoulder, however. Despite what Ichigo might have thought, Yoruichi did care about what happened to him (1). She had missed her favorite student (read: missed teasing her _only _student) in the year she had thought he was dead and now that she had him back, she was being very overprotective of him.

"(What do you mean, about people thinking I'm dead?! And me being gone a year?!)" Ichigo was freaking out now. He hadn't been gone a year! A day, maybe, but definitely not a year!

"(Calm down, Ichigo,)" Yoruichi spoke up as she hopped from his shoulder into his lap. She looked up at him sadly. "(When you disappeared, we believed you were dead. This was supported by the fact that your body started to decay, even with Kon inhabiting it. Once this started, the only thing we could do was have a funeral for you and make up a story to tell people, explaining how you died. As for you being gone a year...)" she trailed off here, wanting someone else to explain this part. She again looked up at Ichigo's horrified face and felt a twinge of pain and guilt in her gut.

Yamamoto picked up the story, "(We believe that using the Final Getsuga Tenshou sent you not only to this world, but a little forward in time as well. Thus, you did not exist in either world, Soul Society, or Hueco Mundo for almost a year. However, this is not important right now. What's done is done. We must now discuss the future.)"

"(What's there to discuss?!)" Ichigo was angry now. "(I want to go home and see my family! They've been thinking I'm dead for the past year!)" It pained him to even think about that. Yuzu would have bawled her eyes out and Karin probably would have beaten someone up. Or several people. Multiple times. And his dad... Well, Ichigo didn't even want to imagine what he had done...

Yamamoto gave him a pitying look and said, "(I cannot allow you to go home as of yet. Doing so would mean that the existence of the parallel world would become common knowledge and I am not quite ready for the entire Seireitei to know of this. I need time to find some specific witches and wizards in Rukongai, which will probably take quite a while, and prepare to open Shino Academy to those souls from this world that wish to become shinigami. Only after all preparations are complete will I allow you to return. In the mean time, you will stay here and assist Albus with handling some problems that have arisen here. This is an order.)"

The entire time Yamamoto had been talking, Ichigo's anger had been steadily rising, but the word 'order' really set him off. "(What makes you think that you can order me around, old man?! I'm not part of the Gotei 13, you can't order me to do anything!)"

Gin, who had been quiet this entire time, finally spoke up. "(The moment you were officially dead in the world of the living and your body buried, you became an official shinigami of the Gotei 13 instead of just a substitute shinigami.)"

"(You honestly don't have a choice. There is no way for you to get back without our help,)" Yamamoto said. "(However, I will offer you a deal. While you are here, you will go to Albus's magic school as a student and help Albus with a few problems there. At the end of the school year, I will allow you to come back under one condition.)"

Ichigo swore under his breath, "(What condition?)"

"(When you get back, you will accept the position of captain of the fifth squad.)"

Ichigo stared at him with his mouth open (he seemed to be doing a lot of that as of late). He certainly hadn't been expecting that. The old man really wanted him to be a captain? It was almost comical.

"(Do you accept the deal?)"

Ichigo knew his answer immediately. He had heard the horror stories about paperwork and captains' meetings from Toshiro, but that was a small price to pay if he got to go home. He nodded his head slowly.

Yamamoto got a look in his eyes that scared Ichigo. Was that the same twinkle that Dumbledore had?

_He's totally manipulatin' you, King._

Ichigo sighed inwardly. _I know._

"(Good,)" Yamamoto said, "(For the time being, you will be Captain Ichimaru's vice-captain. That leaves us with only one more matter to –)"

"(Wait,)" Ichigo interrupted. "(What do you mean, I'll be his vice-captain? Doesn't he already have one? And I'm still wondering why he's a captain in the first place!)"

"(I was never not a captain. I was merely playing the part of a traitor to gain Aizen's trust. In order for Aizen not to find out, Captain-commander Yamamoto was the only person other than myself, who knew of my bein' a double agent. I was the Captain-commander's informant during the war.)"

"(But you tried to kill me!)"

"(I wouldn't have actually killed you. And at the moment, no, I do not have a vice-captain,)" Gin informed him. "(Kira has been temporarily transferred to the fifth division to look after it. Vice-captain Hinamori was seriously inured both physically and mentally during the war and, although her physical injuries have been healed, she is still healing mentally and is not fit to run the squad right now. Currently, my third seat is running the third squad, while I'm away. Captain-commander's just makin' you my temporary vice-captain so you can start practicing filling out paperwork an' filing reports.)"

At this, Ichigo groaned. He was not looking forward to doing any of that. And him being vice-captain also made him Gin's subordinate. Even though Gin hadn't said it, that was probably another reason that Yamamoto was making him Gin's vice-captain. He groaned again as he realized this. _Great, just great..._

Yamamoto cleared his throat to get Ichigo's attention and then continued his statement from before. "(As I was saying, this leaves us with one last matter to discuss.)"

"(Yes?)" Ichigo asked after a moment of silence in which Yamamoto stared at him intently.

"(Your hollow.)"

"(What about him? Shiro's been behaving himself lately. There's no need to worry...)"

"(One night, after we had a couple drinks, your father told me about the deal you made with Shiro,)" Yoruichi told him. "(Once Captain-commander told me where we were going, I informed him of it as well.)"

"(How'd goat-beard find out about it though?)" Ichigo wondered.

Yoruichi got a devilish look in her eyes, "(Apparently you were talking out loud while you meditated, but somehow only for that part of the conversation.)" It was extremely apparent that Yoruichi planned to use the knowledge that he sometimes talked out loud while he meditated against him. Probably to ask him embarrassing questions and see if she got answers.

Ichigo shot Yoruichi a worried look and sighed. He had spent three months in the Dangai, meditating, and learning the Final Getsuga Tenshou. At the end of it, he had come to know Shiro and Zangetsu much better than before, and had struck a deal with Shiro. If by some miracle he didn't lose his powers after the fight with Aizen, he would let Shiro have control over their body every once and a while. In return, Shiro would never again forcefully take control unless it would save them both from certain death. Ichigo had momentarily forgotten about the deal since he hadn't expected to keep his powers anyways. In fact, the only reason he had really agreed to the deal in the first place, was because he was confident that after the fight with Aizen, he wouldn't have his powers anymore. But here he was, still alive (well, sort of), and still a shinigami, which meant that the deal was still on.

"(So you know about the deal,)" Ichigo said finally. "(But why do we need to talk about it?)"

"(You're going to a school full of children. That's no place for a bloodthirsty psychopath. We want to talk to Shiro and make sure he understands this,)" stated Yoruichi.

Ichigo groaned again. She did have a point. "(Fine. Give me a sec.)"

Before Ichigo could delve into his inner world to give Shiro control, Dumbledore, who had been sitting politely and listening, asked, "(May I ask who Shiro is and why he needs to be informed that a school is no place for a bloodthirsty psychopath?)"

Ichigo realized that the conversation must have been very confusing for Dumbledore, as he was the only person in the room that did not know of Ichigo's inner hollow. "(Wait just a moment, and you'll find out.)"

Ichigo then closed his eyes. His body slumped against the back of his chair as if he had fallen asleep. All the occupants of the room stared at him expectantly. Ichigo's hair started to change color, the orange slowly becoming white.

"(Is he a metamorphmagus?)" Dumbledore asked curiously.

Yamamoto shook his head, "(Just watch, Albus. Captain Ichimaru, be ready. We don't know if he'll be hostile.)"

Gin nodded and placed his hand on his wakizashi, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. There was a tense silence in the room as the last strand of orange hair turned white. Ichigo's eyes fluttered open. The whites of his eyes were now black and the irises had turned gold. Ichigo's permanent scowl had been replaced by Shiro's psychotic grin.

_"__(__King said ya' wanted ta talk, ol' man?__)"_ Shiro asked. His voice sounded as if several people were talking at once, but slightly out of sync.

Dumbledore stared at the boy in astonishment. Did he have multiple personalities?

Yamamoto saw the look on Dumbledore's face and explained, "(This is Kurosaki Ichigo's inner hollow, Shiro. Together, Shiro and Kurosaki make what is known as a Vizard. Half shinigami, half hollow.)"

Yoruichi spoke up, "(Shiro can be pretty bloody-minded, so we felt we should make you aware of his existence and make sure he isn't going to lose his senses while at Hogwarts.)" She directed the last part at Shiro.

Shiro growled, the grin on his face morphing into a frown, _"__(__Ya' better not be tryin' ta mess with the deal I made with King. If ya' are...__)__"_ He left the threat open, letting them imagine what kind of horrible things he might do.

"(We are not interfering with your bargain,)" Yamamoto assured him. "(We are merely asking that you keep your wits about you and don't harm the students or teachers during your stay at Albus's school, Hogwarts.)"

Shiro folded his arms, looking dejected, but he agreed nonetheless.

Yamamoto nodded his approval, "(Also, the change in hair color, eye color, and voice might raise a few questions. Can you take control without these happening?)"

Shiro gave him a quick nod and closed his eyes. The hair changed quickly back to orange and when he opened his eyes again the whites of his eyes were back to being, well, white. However, his irises were still gold instead of their usual warm brown.

"(Better?)" Shiro asked, using Ichigo's voice.

"(Yes, quite,)" Yamamoto said. "(I'll be leaving now. Captain Ichimaru and Shihoin-san will be staying to keep an eye on you, Shiro.)" He turned to Dumbledore, "(Goodbye, Albus. I wish you well with your war and hope that they,)" he nodded his head at Shiro, Yoruichi, and Gin, "(can be of some help to you.)"

"(Thank you, Genryusai. Goodbye.)" With that Yamamoto stood and used Ryujin Jakka to open a senkaimon. Seconds later he was gone, and the senkaimon faded back into thin air.

Dumbledore turned back to the shinigami still in the room, smiling, eyes twinkling, and said, "(Well, who wants dinner?)"

* * *

(1): Just in case any of you thought this, this story does not, by any means, have Yoruichi and Ichigo paired together. In fact, there probably won't be any pairings (except for the stuff that actually happens in the fifth book, with Harry and Cho, and all of that crap). Despite me being an avid IchiRuki fan, I cannot write romance to save my life. If the fate of the world depended on it, we'd all be doomed. Plus, Rukia just doesn't fit into this story, so we can't have Ichigo and her together anyways...*sigh*

A/N: Now, before anyone gets mad at me about the whole Shiro thing, just think about what fun we can have torturing Umbridge! *evil smirk* Heads are gonna roll... Here's some food for thought: maybe Shiro somehow knew that this was going to happen and made the deal accordingly? Maybe he was part of the cause of this whole mess Ichigo's now in? What do you think?

And yes, I'm well aware that I left Shiro in control at the end of this chapter. Ichigo will get control again very soon. We can't have Ron and Hermione's first impression of him being that of a maniac killer who's going to eat their souls, now can we? Anyways, anyone else mad at Yamamoto? Even _I'm_ angry with him, and I'm the one who wrote him that way. That conniving old man... And I'm absolutely sure that you've noticed that things in this story didn't go exactly the way they went in the manga (Gin being alive, Ichigo's deal with Shiro). I've tweaked a few things for the sake of the story, but the overlying storyline of the manga up to the end of the Decide Arc is still the same. Well, this author's note is getting long, and I've got nothing more to say, so I'm gonna leave it at that for this chapter. Thanks again, and don't forget to review!

~Kuro


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Agh! Dang you, school! It literally ambushed me and stole all my writing time. High school is crazy. Combine that with the fact that I have double the normal amount of math (because I'm taking the honors math, and doing both my Sophomore and Junior years of math in one), it's really hard to find time to write. But I make do. In fact, most of this chapter was written during my study hall when I should have been doing my math homework instead. So be grateful guys. Even with my crazy high school life, I still make time to write for you people. :) Unfortunately, this is still more of a talking/explaining chapter, but if you notice, that's just how the 5th Harry Potter book starts off, a lot of talking and little action until they actually leave for Hogwarts (which will hopefully happen in the next chapter. At least that's how I'm planning it. We'll see how that works out). Anyways, even if you do find this chapter horribly uneventful, please read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter.

_This is Ichigo thinking_

_**This is Zangetsu speaking**_

_This is Shiro speaking_

"(This is speaking in Japanese.)"

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

Back in the hall, they found Molly, Lupin and Tonks preparing to magically seal the front door after the last of the large group of people had left. Ichigo had managed to get control back from Shiro, convincing him that first impressions really did matter and that he really wasn't a people person. At all. Of course, Ichigo wasn't much more of a socialite either, but at least he didn't give off the vibe that he was about to murder you in some very painful way and eat your soul...

Dumbledore interrupted them by clearing his throat quietly. Once he had their attention, he turned back to the shinigami, "This is Molly Weasley, Remus Lupin, and Nymphadora Tonks." He gestured to each one in turn as he introduced them.

"But you can just call me Tonks," Tonks added, a look of annoyance very prominent on her face.

Dumbledore ignored the interruption, although he looked slightly amused by it, and introduced the shinigami, "This is Gin Ichimaru and Ichigo Kurosaki. Mr. Kurosaki will be attending Hogwarts in the fall and Mr. Ichimaru is a new member of the Order. They will both be staying here for awhile."

Yoruichi's fur bristled, obviously displeased about not being introduced, but she held her peace. It would look strange if a cat suddenly started talking. Instead, she flicked her tail in annoyance and glared daggers at Dumbledore from her perch on Ichigo's shoulder.

The two witches and one wizard were nodding in response to what Dumbledore had said, but they kept shooting Gin and Ichigo slightly fearful looks. Obviously, they weren't over the whole 'Grim Reaper' and 'dead' thing.

Dumbledore apparently noticed this and added, "The topic we were discussing right before Mr. Ichimaru arrived should not be discussed outside of Order meetings."

The three nodded again and stepped aside to allow the elderly headmaster to leave. He stepped out the door, bid them all a good night, and closed the door quietly behind him. The three quickly replaced all the seals and locks on the door and then turned back to the shinigami. The two groups stood staring at each other for a couple seconds until Gin broke the silence.

"It's nice to meet you, Weasley-san, Lupin-san, Tonks-san," he said inclining his head a little to each of them. After a subtle swat on the head from Yoruichi, Ichigo followed suit. This show of politeness seemed to snap the others out of their trance.

"It's nice to meet you too, Gin. And it's nice to be properly introduced to you, Ichigo," Weasley said. Ichigo was a little annoyed at the use of his first name, but he didn't show it. He might as well start getting used to it now, seeing as that's just how English people were. Lupin and Tonks greeted them as well, and Weasley continued, "I believe the others are already in the kitchen, eating. Both of you are probably hungry. Join us for dinner?"

There really was nothing else for either of them to do, so Ichigo nodded his head and said, "Yes. Thank you, Weasley-san."

"Oh, just call me Mrs. Weasley, dear," she replied, causing Ichigo to blink at her, confused, for a moment. Hadn't he already been calling her the equivalent of 'Mrs. Weasley'? Maybe she just preferred to be addressed the English way? Whatever the reason for her strange statement, Ichigo complied.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," he repeated himself, which seemed to prompt her too lead them to the kitchen, Lupin and Tonks following behind.

On the way back down the hall, Ichigo had a quiet conversation with Gin in Japanese. Yoruichi had hopped down from Ichigo's shoulder and was now walking ahead of them down the hallway.

"(What's this 'order' that Dumbledore said you were joining?)" Ichigo asked, still a little confused about the whole situation, even if Yamamoto had cleared up a few things.

"(It's the Order of the Phoenix. They're fightin' against some dark wizard named,)" he lowered his voice even more, leaning closer to Ichigo, "(Voldemort. I'll explain more ta you later. After all, you'll be joinin' the Order as well.)"

"(I will?)" Ichigo asked, eyebrow twitching in annoyance. What if he didn't want to join some secret organization that was fighting a war?

"(Yes, ya' will. And no, ya' have no say in the matter. I'm yer captain now. I can order you around, remember?)"

"(Yeah, you can order me around, but that doesn't mean I have to follow those orders,)" Ichigo muttered, scowl deepening.

"(Course not, but I can always contact Captain-commander Yamamoto and ask him ta send Zaraki here to fight ya'. I'm sure he'd be ever so pleased ta find out that you're alive...)"

Ichigo paled. Gin wouldn't really do that, would he? Better not to find out. "(That won't be necessary, Captain.)"

Gin snickered again and his smile grew wider for a moment, if that was possible. Then he seemed to grow a bit more serious. "(Ya' know, you were really hard ta track, what with the fact that I can't just feel around for your reiatsu anymore. If I hadn't used Kakushitsuijaku, I never would have found ya'.)" (1)

"(Really? My reiatsu isn't nearly as high as it was. I thought it had dropped back down to how it used to be...)" Ichigo said, deciding to just go with the sudden topic change. They entered the kitchen and sat down at the table, ignoring the fact that everyone in the room was now looking at them. Yoruichi had decided to jump on the table and she now appeared to be taking a nap there. Mrs. Weasley looked like she was about to say something, but didn't when they completely ignored everyone in the room, continuing with their conversation.

"(Oh, it has dropped. I can feel it a bit, if I concentrate and am really trying ta find it, but when you're angry, it flares up and I can't feel it at all. I doubt anyone below a captain rank would be able ta feel even a hint of reiatsu from you, unless ya' lowered it.)"

"(But isn't that bad? What if my reiatsu vaporizes someone, like Aizen's?)" Ichigo said, a worried tone creeping into his voice.

"(Aizen had ta lower his reiatsu for anyone ta even feel it. When he did lower it into the realm of human comprehension, it vaporized any weak souls that were around him. But if he didn't lower it, nothin' happened. I believe the same holds true for you, so just don't lower your reiatsu and everything should be fine. 'Sides, I think yer reiatsu level's just above the Captain-commander's and ya' don' see him vaporizin' people.)"

Ichigo glared at Gin. "(Oh yeah, that's _real_ reassuring.)"

Gin waved his hand dismissively, "(We'll put some seals on ya' later to help you keep it under control, so don't worry about it. In fact, this is a good thing. If yer reiatsu was back ta how it used ta be, leakin' out everywhere so that everyone could feel it, those dementors would be swarming to ya' like moths to a light. They aren't nearly as intelligent as hollows, but they would definitely pick up on your high reiatsu levels. Better that they can't feel your reiatsu at all. We'll discuss this more later if ya' want to, but right now...)" Gin turned to Mrs. Weasley and said in English, "Sorry 'bout that. We were discussing somethin' very important."

"Oh, no. It's fine," she replied. "I was just going to introduce you to everyone. But if you could please remove your cat from the table..."

"Well we would..." Ichigo said, "but she's very stubborn. If she wants to do something, she does it. She'd probably just get right back on the table."

Mrs. Weasley, seeing that the cat was not going to be getting off the table any time soon, gave up. She introduced them to the people around the table. There was, of course, Harry, whom Ichigo already knew, but there was also Sirius Black – the man with the long black hair who had rushed out with Lupin to quiet whoever had been screaming – and Mundungus Fletcher – the man that batty old lady had been screaming about – who looked like a pile of dirty rags until he moved.

Next to be introduced was Mrs. Weasley's husband, Arthur Weasley, and their five children, Bill Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. All had the same bright read hair and freckles. The last person was a girl with bushy brown hair named Hermione.

There was lots of handshaking and greetings, in which Fred and George were surprised to find out that Gin could easily tell them apart. Gin later explained to Ichigo that there was a small difference in their reiatsu which Ichigo would have been able to feel instantly if he was better at sensing reiatsu, and after Gin pointed it out, he was indeed able to sense the difference.

Ichigo wolfed down the stew that had been served for dinner, asking for seconds when he had finished his portion. He really was hungry and it was no wonder, when he thought about it. According to Yamamoto, it had technically been a year since he had last eaten and even if that wasn't completely true for him (seeing as it had only felt like a few hours), it had still been a while. In fact, he couldn't remember eating anything after going to Hueco Mundo...

They cleared away the dishes after everyone had eaten. Mrs. Weasley was just about to show Gin and Ichigo up to their rooms, saying that they would put another cot in Ron's and Harry's room, when Black suddenly spoke up.

"I'm surprised at you, Harry. I thought you'd be asking questions the second you got here."

"I did," Harry replied glancing at Ron and Hermione a little angrily, "but Ron and Hermione said they weren't allowed in the meetings –"

"And rightly so," Mrs. Weasley interrupted angrily, coming back to the table to glare at Black. Gin made his way back to the table and sat down, seeming very interested in the direction the conversation was going. Ichigo followed, wishing that he could just go to bed and leave listening to this conversation to Yoruichi, who had still not left the table. "They aren't of age, nor are they part of the Order."

"Since when do you have to be in the Order to ask questions, Molly?" Black retorted. "Harry has a right to know what's going on."

They bickered over Harry for several minutes, until Mrs. Weasley finally gave in.

"But the rest of you!" she said, rounding on her children (excluding Bill), Hermione, and Ichigo. "All of you, go to bed!"

"But we're of age!" Fred and George shouted simultaneously.

Mrs. Weasley glared at them and then looked to her husband for help.

"They are of age, Molly. We can't stop them."

"Fine then. Ron, Hermione –"

"Harry will just tell us anyways, right Harry?" Ron interrupted, looking at Harry hopefully.

Harry nodded, "Of course."

Mrs. Weasley threw her hands in the air, exasperated, "Oh, all right! You can stay! Ginny, bed!"

"But –" Ginny started.

"No. Bed now!" she glared at her daughter. Ginny stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. "You too, Ichigo, dear. I'll show you to your room."

Ichigo started to get up, happy to be getting out of this and to be going to bed, but his joy was short lived. Gin placed a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back into his seat and said, "(Stay. That's an order.)"

"(You're enjoying this. Ordering me around,)" Ichigo muttered. Gin's smile widened a little, showing that he was indeed, enjoying it. Ichigo glared at Gin, but stayed put. Gin then turned his attention to Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm sorry, Weasley-san, but I'm Ichigo-kun's guardian, and I would like him ta stay and hear this."

Everyone in the room stared at them. The other teenagers were especially baffled.

_It must seem completely backwards to them, the fact that I want to leave, but Gin is making me stay..._

_**Of course it does. It's no wonder they're surprised, seeing how hard they fought to stay. They expected you to do the same.**_

Mrs. Weasley finally regained enough composure to stutter out the words, "Oh... Okay..." and then quickly leave the room to make sure Ginny had actually gone to bed.

"Anyways..." Black said as he watched her leave. He turned his gaze back on Harry. "What did you want to know?"

"I want to know what's going on, what Voldemort's been up to." Ichigo noticed how most of the witches and wizards flinched when Harry said the name 'Voldemort'. So that's why Gin had lowered his voice when he had said it...

"Have there been any funny deaths?" Harry continued. "Any disappearances? I've been trying to watch the muggle news, but it hasn't mentioned anything."

"That's because there hasn't been anything to mention," Black replied. "Not as far as we know. And we – the Order – know a lot."

"What? But I thought –"

"Voldemort's been laying low. Biding his time. His return didn't go quite the way he wanted it to, thanks to you, Harry." Ichigo was starting to be a little glad that he had stayed. The conversation was actually getting fairly interesting, and might explain some of the finer points that those two old geezers hadn't thought to mention.

"How d'you mean?" Harry asked.

"You weren't supposed to survive! But you did, and the second you got back, you alerted Dumbledore, who is the last person that Voldemort wanted to know he was back. Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix within an hour of his return because of it," Black explained.

Ichigo was starting to realize why Gin had wanted him to stay and listen. From what he could gather, this evil wizard, Voldemort, seemed to be (or at least had been) targeting Harry, for whatever reason. Much like Aizen had targeted Ichigo, himself. Maybe there was more reason to sending him to Hogwarts than just conveniently keeping him out of the way, after all. Ichigo would bet money on Dumbledore wanting help guarding Harry. But if so, why hadn't Dumbledore just come out and said it?

"So what's the Order been doing, then?"

"Trying to keep Voldemort from carrying out his plans." It was Lupin who replied this time. "We have a vague idea of what his plans are, or at least Dumbledore does, so we've been trying to stop him from gaining more followers."

"And how're you doing that?"

"Mostly convincing people that he's back. Warning them. It's hard though, when Fudge and the Ministry refuse to believe it."

"How can they not believe it? Dumbledore told Fudge!"

"That's just it," Black said. "_Dumbledore _told him. Fudge doesn't want to believe Voldemort's back, so he's somehow convinced himself that Dumbledore's after his job and has started to use the _Daily Prophet_ to discredit him. He's started discrediting you as well."

"I hate politics," Ichigo muttered darkly, thinking about Central 46 and all the problems that could have been avoided if they had not existed and it had been Yamamoto in charge. He was unaware of everyone staring, as he glowered at a spot on the table in front of him. Gin elbowed him in the side, effectively pulling him from his thoughts. He shook his head to clear it and said, "Sorry about that, please continue."

"What do you mean, they've started discrediting me?" Harry asked, shooting Ichigo a sideways glance. Ichigo noticed and raised an eyebrow at him, quizzically. Harry quickly looked away.

Surprisingly, it was Hermione who answered, "Just slipping in a snide comment about you in the paper whenever they can, like if there's an outlandish story or something. It's nothing huge, but it's effective. They're doing the exact same thing to Dumbledore."

Harry seemed to shrug off the whole newspaper thing, but Ichigo could tell he was still bothered by it. From the worried looks on their faces, so could Ron and Hermione.

"But if Voldemort is gathering followers, they're bound to notice he's back sometime, right?"

"Voldemort isn't going to just go knocking on doors," Black said. "He tricks and blackmails, working in the shadows. Besides, he's focused on other things as well at the moment."

"What else is he after?"

"Something he didn't have last time," Lupin said and Black added, "Sort of like a weapon."

"What kind of weapon? There can't be something worse than the _Avada Kedavra, _can there?"

Mrs. Weasley stepped forward out of the shadows. Ichigo had noticed her return several minutes ago (even if he sucked at sensing reiatsu, he could still sense _that_ much. Plus his skills at sensing things _had_ improved after his time in the Dangai). She looked about to speak, but Ichigo beat her to it, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"What's the _Avada Kedavra_?" Again, everyone in the room gaped at him. Gin, having been the only one not surprised, answered.

"Nothing ya' need ta worry 'bout, Ichigo-kun," he said, rather mockingly.

This sent Ron, who was in a shocked state, spluttering, "_Avada Kedavra_ is the killing curse, mate. What d'you mean, he doesn't need to worry about it?"

Ichigo glared at Gin, "You weren't going to tell me about a curse that can _kill_ people?"

"Nope. All it does is kill. Nothin' ta worry about," Gin replied cheerfully, causing everyone in the room to look at him as if he were a psychopath. Which was actually a pretty accurate description of him, in Ichigo's opinion.

"How is that _not_ something to worry about?!"

"Think about it. If all it does is kill, do you, specifically, need ta worry about it?"

Ichigo, even though he was still angry at Gin, decided to do as he was told and took a moment to think about it. If killing was the only thing that the curse did, there really was no need to worry about it. He supposed he still wasn't used to the fact that he was no longer alive...

"Oh..." Ichigo said, realizing what he had missed.

Gin nodded, "(Ya' can't kill what's already dead. From what the Captain-commander has told me, the curse kills by forcing the soul out of the body and cutting the chain of fate. You have neither a body, nor a chain of fate so there's nothing ta worry about. Instead, if you were ta be hit by the curse, it would probably just send ya' flying backwards and maybe stun ya' for a moment. It'd probably hurt a bit too, especially around the chest area, where the chain of fate is located on normal souls.)"

While Ichigo nodded his understanding, the rest of the people continued to stare at them, confused even more by Gin's sudden, rapid Japanese. Gin grinned at their confusion (but then again, Gin grinned all the time, so his facial expression didn't really change...) and Ichigo smirked a little. Their faces were rather amusing.

"What?" Gin asked them innocently.

"And we thought You-Know-Who was a nutter," Ichigo heard Fred whisper to his twin.

"This guy's completely off his rocker," George agreed quietly.

"Um, you do know what the word killing means, right?" Harry asked them, hoping that there had been some slip up with their English. This hope was completely unfounded, however, since both Ichigo and Gin had been speaking flawless English.

"Yep," Gin answered dismissively. "Now what's this about a weapon?"

Black opened his mouth, about to speak, when Mrs. Weasley intervened.

"That's enough." She was so angry you could see her shaking. "I want you all to go to bed. Now." She glared at Black "You've given Harry enough information. Anymore, and you might as well just induct him into the Order."

"Why not?" Harry asked. You could hear the eagerness in his voice. "I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight –"

"No," Lupin interrupted. "The Order is comprised only of overage wizards. Wizards who have left school." Ichigo glared at Gin. Oh, Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the Order were going to have a fit when they found out that Gin had given him an explicit order to join their little group... "There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you..." Ichigo shot Gin another glare, but at the same time he was trying not to laugh at what Lupin had said.

_ I have a plenty good idea of what dangers come with fighting against a maniac __that's constantly trying to kill you..._

"I think Molly's right, Sirius," Lupin finished. "We've said enough."

Black shrugged, neither agreeing or disagreeing. Mrs. Weasley motioned to the teenagers in the room, and one by one, they slowly stood up to follow her. Yoruichi finally moved from the table, returning to what seemed to be her new favorite spot, Ichigo's shoulder.

"Night-night, Ichigo-kun," Gin said, waving at him as he made for the kitchen door behind the others. Gin was still using that mocking voice towards him, but Ichigo figured he'd just have to get used to it, since he was pretty sure Gin used that voice with everyone (except for maybe Rangiku). Still, he couldn't stop an eyebrow from twitching in annoyance.

"Good night, _Taichou_," he muttered, stressing the last word with a hint of sarcasm. No need to show Gin _too_ much respect. Just enough that he wouldn't call Kenpachi and tell him that Ichigo was alive.

Ichigo followed Harry and Ron up the stairs, with a very angry Mrs. Weasley on their tail. Once they reached the room, they stood in silence, watching as Mrs. Weasley stalked off to make the twins go to bed.

The second she was gone, Ron launched into a whispered interrogation of Ichigo, while Harry lay on his bed and listened, glaring at the ceiling.

"So what are you doing here?" Ron asked.

"I'm not exactly sure. Yama-jii, the guy Gin works for, ordered Gin here and I got dragged along. Apparently, he's friends with that other old man, Dumbledore," Ichigo answered. It was a poorly constructed lie, and he knew it. But what was he supposed to tell them? It wasn't like Yamamoto or Gin had provided him with a cover story or anything.

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"Uh, it's what Japanese wizards wear." Ichigo could only hope that Ron had never met a Japanese wizard.

Ron nodded in understanding, causing Ichigo, Yoruichi, Zangetsu, and even Shiro, to sigh with relief. Ron didn't notice, having finally spotted Zangetsu.

"Is that a sword? Why are you carrying a sword around?"

"It has to do with a form of Japanese magic."

"Wicked! You think you could teach me?"

"Probably not," Ichigo answered. _Not unless you want to die._

_Which could be easily arranged..._

"I'm not qualified to teach you, and I doubt you want Gin as your teacher."

"No, definitely not." Ron shook his head, obviously remembering Gin's constant, psychotic grin. If Gin's smile inspired that much fear in him, Ichigo could only imagine what would happen if Ron ever met Shiro when he was his normal self and not having to pretend to be Ichigo for sake of appearances.

_Again, that could be arranged..._

_ Just shut up._

Shiro cackled.

"Is that how you killed the dementor then, with Japanese magic?" Harry asked, sitting up and looking at Ichigo.

He nodded, "Yeah. Why are you so interested in what this Moldywart-guy, or whatever you call him, is doing?" Ron snickered when he said 'Moldywart'.

"He wants to kill me along with a bunch of other people and take over the world, that's why," Harry snapped. It was obviously a touchy subject for him.

Ichigo sighed, "Not another one..."

"What d'you mean?"

"Nothing." _Zangetsu, could you stop translating things that I don't want them to hear?! _"We should probably go to bed. I think I hear your mum coming back down the hall, Ron." Ichigo could not, in fact, hear her coming back, but he could sense her coming their way. Her angry reiatsu was hard to miss.

Ron paled and started quickly getting ready for bed.

Ichigo propped the sheathed Zangetsu against the wall and got into bed, suddenly realizing how exhausted he was. He promptly fell asleep, Yoruichi curled into a ball on his pillow and purring in his ear.

* * *

(1): Bakudo number 58: Kakushitsuijaku (summoning of the tracking sparrows) Tracks and locates any spiritual force the user focuses on. To activate it, the user must draw a circle on the ground, cut into four parts with a specific character in each. The incantation animates the circle, causing various numbers to appear within until the specific set is found. The number set seems to be a variation on longitude and latitude. Incantation: "Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain." (This info comes from a forum by the name of Bleach: Severance. Their compiled list of Kido spells is very helpful. Thank you to the people who made the list!)

A/N: So there you have it folks. Chapter 4. Again, I'm sorry if you guys found this chapter completely boring, but it was necessary. Please endure this with me, until we can get to the action.

And thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, and/or reviewed my story. It makes me very happy to know that people are actually reading this. There are answers to reviews below as a gift because it took me so long to update. I apologize if you reviewed and I accidentally missed you. I'm kinda scatterbrained at the moment.

On a different note, I recently had to write a story for my Spanish class about two zebras and a lion. It's what finally got me in the mood to write again, so you can all thank Leo the Lion for this update. :)

Thanks again, and don't forget to review!

~Kuro

**Justin (Guest):** Thanks for the criticism. It actually gave me a lot to think about. In chapter 3 (or 4 if you count the prologue) I do say that during the three months in the Dangai he got to know Shiro and Zangetsu better. I think that that, combined with the fact that they have suddenly been thrown into a new world, is reason enough for Shiro and Zangetsu to now suddenly be unusually vocal. As for Shiro and Zangetsu being separate, I kinda just assumed that if they could choose to fuse together, they could choose to be separate again. They are, after all, inside Ichigo's head. I think they can pretty much do whatever they want. The whole vaporizing humans thing bothered me as well. It is a pretty big plot hole in my opinion. I thought about it a lot until I finally came to the explanation that Gin gives Ichigo in this chapter. To me, it's the only logical explanation. Aizen must have lowered his reiatsu if Tatsuki was able to feel it when she encountered him, but Isshin, Yoruichi and Urahara weren't able to when they were fighting him. And the weather thing is a really good question. I hadn't thought about it until you brought it up, but if I had before I wrote that chapter the answer would probably be no. Since I didn't, the answer is yes, just because I'm lazy and don't want to change it. But thank you again for reviewing and the criticism was extremely welcome!

**friaku**: I'm glad it surprised you. That was my intention. Thanks for the review!

**Allan (Guest):** Right here...well not here, but if you scroll up a ways...Thanks for reviewing!

**Guest****(1)****:** Hmmm...never heard that song...would you tell me who the artist is? Thanks for the review!

**Kurokarin:** I like Gin too. He's one of my favorite characters. Yama is being a real jerk. Thank you!

**Haosbattler, ****SayoShihoinXKohAyamerei, Phantom Claire, Waywardneko, ****Guest(2)****:** Thank you for reviewing! They do wonders when I'm trying to motivate myself to write!


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